One of the best young midfielders on the planet is reportedly available to buy. Liverpool, this is your moment.
We still stand by it: Liverpool need a new midfielder. Now, it doesn't look like that's happening in this transfer window, especially as it's not at all clear if Curtis Jones will depart.
But that doesn't change the fact that Liverpool were pretty awful in midfield last season. On paper, the individuals really weren't all that bad - none of them kept up with their form the previous campaign, admittedly, but they weren't shocking in isolation.
As a group? Just not good enough. That's the result of building your midfield options entirely from attacking midfielders, which Jones, Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai all were before moving to Anfield.
None of them are particularly proficient at winning the ball back, nor are any of them natural midfield controllers. Jones arguably is on the ball, but you're banking on him doing that at more consistently than he ever has before.
What we believe Liverpool need is a controlling, defensive midfielder. Someone to rely on in the middle and who can provide a base to build on.
So it's notable to read in Foot Mercato that RB Leipzig are trying to sign Strasbourg's Samir El Mourabet. The 21-year-old has gone a little under the radar this summer, primiarly because he's viewed as the second-biggest Moroccan defensive midfield talent playing in France, after Ayyoub Bouaddi.
Bouaddi is two years younger than El Mourabet and that makes him, to many, the brighter prospect. But as a defensive midfielder right now? The Strasbourg star is the better player. And one who could fix Liverpool's problems.
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The Value Adder model has El Mourabet as comfortably the third most defensively decisive midfielder in Ligue 1 last season. In fact, we have him fifth for all players in the French top flight, just behind Mamadou Sangaré at RC Lens, another player we're keen on.
Bouaddi, for those interested, ranks 9th for all players. The three mentioned are the only players under 25 in the top 10 and El Mourabet and Bouaddi are the only players under 23. In fact, add Warren Zaire-Emery and you've got the only three under 22 in the top 20.
This is outright seasonal values, too: make it per 90 and El Mourabet was the second-best defensive player in Ligue 1 last season. Only Benjamin Andre, Bouaddi's partner at Lille, offered more.
© IMAGO
So considering the top five leagues, we believe El Mourabet is the standout defensive midfielder 21-and-under. And a true standout, too: no one matches him per-90, nor for full seasonal value.
© IMAGO
So how does he do it? Well, he's consistent. El Mourabet was the only midfielder in France last season - of any age - who was both top 10% for weighted defensive actions (per 90 minutes) and percentage of duels won.
© IMAGO
But what makes El Mourabet a particularly exciting prospect is that he does this while being reliable on the ball, too. One midfielder in France last season outperformed him for both pass accuracy and dribble success- Vitinha.
That's off about 60 passes per 90 and 1.2 attempted dribbles. Numbers you'd want to see from a young defensive midfielder. And that's the real draw here: El Mourabet is 21.
His defensive value is fantastic for a player his age, operating in a position that lends itself to experience. He can do it off the ball, on the ball, and for whatever reason, is flying under the radar.
Strasbourg have a special player here and someone who we firmly believe can enter the best-in-the-world conversation for defensive midfielders in the coming years. Now is the time to invest.
